The gift certificate for qualifiers and winners alike, enclosed within a letter of congratulations from Bass, is redeemable at any of KBC’s Canadian branches.

“These students have worked extremely hard to sharpen their skills in the classroom and on their machinery, and we wanted to provide them with some encouragement to keep doing so. The next generation of skilled workers will be essential to our industry, so we’re pleased to recognize those who are going to be making a real difference in the future,” she said.

Celebrating 50 years in business this year, KBC stocks over 100,000 items spanning tooling, machinery, work holding, hand tools, precision instruments and more for participants to choose from.

Since opening its doors in 1965, KBC Tools and Machinery says it has been proud to be the supplier of choice for many educational institutions with programs in the skilled trades. For that reason, gift certificates were also issued to the instructors of the machining participants, because as Bass notes, “it’s due in large part to the devotion and expertise of their teachers that these students have found their way to an event as enriching as the Skills competition.”

Headquartered in Toronto, Ont., the company has branches in Windsor, Ont., and Vancouver, B.C.